Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The fallen

Yesterday's snapshot noted the US Defense Dept announcement: "Pfc. Bryant J. Hayned, 21 of Epps, La., died June 26 in Al Diwaniyah, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a vehicle roll-over. He was assigned to the 199th Support Batttalion, Louisiana Army National Guard, Alexandria, La." This brings the number of US service members killed in the Iraq War to 4409 since the start of the illegal war. Paul Purpura (Times-Picayune) notes, "Haynes was at least the second Louisiana National Guardsman to die during the deployment. Maj. Ronald "Wayne" Culver, 44, of El Dorado, Ark., was killed May 24 by a roadside bomb. He was executive officer for the 2nd Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment, based in Shreveport." Stephen Largen (News Star) reports, "Visitation will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home at 907 Winnsboro Road. Haynes' funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Mount Zion Baptist Church at 211 Mount Zion St. in Monroe."

Meanwhile Iraq War veteran Spc Seth Earl Zencius has also died. WCCO notes that Zencius, who served two tours of duty in Iraq and was due to deploy to Afghanistan, was found dead at Fort Riley and "About 200 people gathered Tuesday at Calvary Community Church to remember Zencius. His mother, Mary Brown, says she's proud of how Zencius overcame problems he faced as a teen and turned into 'a respectful man'." Kari Petrie (St. Cloud Times) reports, "Zencius loved to cook and talked about opening a restaurant once he was out of the Army. He loved to grill and made ribs for his family. But his favorite were crab legs. Zach Zencius remembers going to an all-you-can-eat restaurant with his brother. Seth would eat five or six pounds of crab legs." Pari quotes his mother Mary Brown stating, "He gave me lot of fun, happy memories."

When the war is mentioned in class, some teachers change the subject quickly. But others see a need to encourage discussion, even if it is beyond the bounds of what they are told to teach."Sometimes we need to have a discussion about it," said Wasan Mahmod, a teacher at Al Ahrar, a secondary school for girls in Baghdad. "When I mention the American invasion, I say occupation, not liberation."Hutham Hussein, who teaches modern European history, said, "Where there is a discussion of colonization, I bring up the American invasion.""We speak about French colonization, British colonization," she said. "Why not talk about the American colonization?"

The following community sites -- and the Wilders' On The Wilder Side and Veterans Today -- updated last night and this morning:

Closing with independent journalist David Bacon whose latest book is Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press) which won the CLR James Award. Bacon can be heard on KPFA's The Morning Show (over the airwaves in the Bay Area, streaming online) each Wednesday morning (begins airing at 7:00 am PST) -- that's today. He's got a new article and I can't find it online. We'll note it in the snapshot today with a link but I can't find it online this morning so we'll include the intro and one of his photos.

Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Americans in San Francisco protest the long hours and bad conditions at the Foxconn factory in southern China, where the Apple iPad is manufactured. They lined up in front of Apple's flagship store in San Francisco, holding signs with the names of workers at the factory who have committed suicide because of the conditions.Those conditions include 80 hours of overtime a month, according to the Chinese media. Chinese law limits overtime to 36 hours per month. No one is allowed to talk on the production line, and workers complain of constant high line speed and speedup. Most workers live in huge dormitories, where often 12 people share a room. The suicides include a man who jumped from a dormitory. He'd worked there for two years. Another man, recently hired, slit his wrists and was taken to a hospital. A woman hanged herself in the bathroom, and a man drowned in a company swimming pool. The latest person committed suicide right after Foxconn's head, Terry Guo, had visited the factory and taken journalists on a tour.Apple Corporation was embarrassed by the disclosure of the conditions for the people who make iPhones, iPods and iPads. The company, which has pushed for extra production of the newly unveiled iPad, said it would compensate workers by increasing the money it was paying Foxconn from 2.3% to 3% of the final price it charges for an iPad. That's the equivalent of the amount Apple spends for the device's aluminium back.The protest and memorial was organized by San Francisco's Chinese Progressive Association.

Again, in the snapshot we'll have a link today. I'm sorry we don't now. As someone who lives in the Bay Area, I'm always surprised by how little national attention that Chinese-American issues receive so I'm including the above and one of the photos. When we have a link later, you'll be able to use it and see all of Bacon's photos. This is an important issue and I doubt you can think of anyone reporting on it seriously at the nation level.

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.